Šilėnai 1921-1922

Šilėnai is a township and a railway station between Šiauliai and Radviliškis. In World War One it was a contentious object in the two battles for Šiauliai and was finally secured (as Schilany) by Brigade Homeyer on July 21, 1915. During the German withdrawal from the East, Šilėnai as a railway station was occupied by the Red Army’s International Division a day or two before it moved into Šiauliai on January 15, 1919.

Similarly, Šilėnai was re-taken by Grenzschutz troops soon after they captured Šiauliai on March 11, 1919. As a railway station of some significance it remained under Grenzschutz control and, on October 5, 1919, was fully seized by the troops of the Korps Wirgolitsch (“bermontininkai”). In late November 1919 the area was finally cleared by Lithuanian regulars.

In the czarist period there was a postal facility, Shilany, housed in the railway station. Lithuanian postal branch, most likely an agentūra, was also set up in the railway station in 1921(?), though as yet no further details are available about its exact status and staff.

For stamps, Šilėnai had at least Fourth Berlin Issue etc. For cancelling, it used a one-liner cachet “Šilėnai” and, like some other postal facilities functioning in railway stations, its place-name in the cachet may have been preceded by “st.” = stotis [= station]. Later it was provided with a standard calendar-type postmarker with the addendum “P.A.” = pašto agentūra.

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